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A buried town
Akrotiri was buried by the Theran eruption in the 16th century BC
Akrotiri is a Cycladic Bronze Age settlement on Santorini. It was destroyed during the Theran eruption sometime in the 16th century BC and buried in volcanic ash, which helped preserve its fine frescoes. Like Pompeii, it is remarkably well preserved.
A trading town
A fishing village grew into a copper town with paved streets
The earliest evidence of habitation dates to the fifth millennium BCE, when it was a small fishing and farming village. Its position on the sailing route between Cyprus and Minoan Crete made it a centre for processing copper. Paved streets and an extensive drainage system point to its sophistication.
The dig
Spyridon Marinatos began the modern dig in 1967 and found the city within hours
The extensive modern excavation was started in 1967 by Spyridon Marinatos. A few hours in, the remains of the buried city began to be discovered. Many buildings were preserved to a height of more than a single storey. Christos Doumas took over in 1975.
Frescoes
The Blue Monkeys came to light in 1969 and the Spring Fresco in 1970
The frescoes are much better preserved than those from Knossos and other sites on Crete. The Blue Monkeys fresco was found in 1969 in Room Beta 6. In 1970 the Spring Fresco was uncovered in Room Delta 2, still standing in its original position.
An evacuation
A single gold object and no human remains point to an orderly evacuation
Only a single gold object has been found, hidden beneath flooring, and no uninterred human skeletal remains. This indicates that an orderly evacuation was performed with little or no loss of life.
Day 3, morning
Next is Red Beach.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Akrotiri (prehistoric city), and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.